: the hard-shelled reproductive body produced by a bird and especially by the common domestic chicken
also: its contents used as food
b
: an animal reproductive body consisting of an ovum together with its nutritive and protective envelopes and having the capacity to develop into a new individual capable of independent existence
Noun
The egg will hatch about 10 days after it is laid.
the smell of rotten eggs
I bought a carton of eggs.
a batter made from flour and egg
The egg is fertilized by the sperm. Verb (1)
though exhausted, I was egged on by spectators to finish the marathon
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Noun
White House Easter egg roll: How to watch the event that will use 30,000 real eggs
The country's largest tech companies make up some of the corporate sponsors, according to a list released by the White House, including Amazon, Meta and YouTube.—Joey Garrison, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025 Sterling was also pictured with her pink Easter Bunny bag that appeared to be filled with some eggs.—Gabrielle Rockson, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Verb
Johnson said, egging them on, as though the reference to Wallen was an inside joke shared by everyone there.—Esther Zuckerman, The Atlantic, 6 Apr. 2025 The Ohio senator also makes a show of news conferences at his rallies, answering reporter questions in front of supporters who egg him on.—Sam Woodward, USA TODAY, 3 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for egg
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English egge, from Old Norse egg; akin to Old English ǣg egg, Latin ovum, Greek ōion
Verb (1)
Middle English, from Old Norse eggja; akin to Old English ecg edge — more at edge
: a hard-shelled reproductive body produced by a bird and especially by domestic poultry
also: its contents used as food
b
: a reproductive body produced by an animal and consisting of an ovum with its food-containing and protecting envelopes and being capable of development into a new individual
c
: a germ cell produced by a female
called alsoovum
2
: something shaped like an egg
darning egg
Etymology
Verb
Old Norse eggja "to incite"
Noun
Middle English egge "egg," from early Norse egg (same meaning)
: the hard-shelled reproductive body produced by a bird and especially by the common domestic chicken (Gallus gallus)
2
: an animal reproductive body consisting of an ovum together with its nutritive and protective envelopes and having the capacity to develop into a new individual capable of independent existence
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